Basement heating system



L. L. SCOTT BASEMENT HEATING SYSTEM Filed May 12, 1951 April 29, 1952 W IN v E. N T o R 'f Patented Apr. 295, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT oEElcE Lewis L. scott, Glenda-1e, M0.

Application May lg, 1951, Serial No. 225,941

teams.` (01.237-69) This invention relates particularly to a means for heating the basement in a residence, which residence proper is radiant heated, in a manner as shown in my application Ser'. No. 180,560, led August 21, 1950, and also shown in a joint application led by Charles E. Atkinson and myself, on March 17, 1950, Serial No. 150,298,

In the heating systems referred to in the above mentioned applications, a steam boiler furnishes steam to heat a heat transfer coil, located in the basement, which coil heats air, which air rises by gravity circulation through a central shaft to the ceiling of the rst oor, thence between the joist spaces. heating the ceiling of the iirst oor and the floor of the second floor and returning to the basement through certain stud spaces in the outside walls of the building. In a one story house, the ceiling of the living quarters is heated, and insulation is placed above the ceiling. The air temperature returning to the basement in this type of system is about 68 degrees and therefore the basement is not properly heated for comfort conditions.

In this type of heating system, I have found that considerable heat is stored in the structure of the building, so that once the living rooms of the house have been brought up to proper temperature, comfort conditions in the rooms will hold for a long period of time, without the burner, which supplies heat to the boiler, coming on.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and very low cost means of providing heat in the basement at certain times when the housewife may be working in said basement.

In the accompanying drawings, I show a two story residence with basement, in section, with means for heating the rooms of said house and also heating the basement when extra heat is Wanted in said'basement.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral I is the basement area, 2 indicates rooms on the first floor and 3 indicates rooms on the second floor. 4 is a steam heatV transfer coil, to which steam is supplied when heat is required in rooms 2 and 3, from a boiler, not shown. 5 is a heat shaft which runs upward from coil 4 to the joist spaces 6 above the ceiling 'I of the rst oor. 8 indicates 2" x 2 furring members attached under the ceiling joists so that air heated by coil 4 will normally flow upward through shaft 5 and to spaces 6 between vthe first floor ceiling joists and downward between the stud spaces 9 in the side walls and back to the basement I. The numeral I0 indicates one or more room thermostats, which may be located in area 2 or 3 for controlling the 2 1 heating means, not shown. The room thermostat can be set to any required temperature to maintain comfort conditions in areas 2 and 3. With this system, the area 2 is radiant heated from ceiling 'I and area 3 is radiant heated from floor II. The basement area I gets some heat from the air which returns to basement but not enough heat to maintain comfort conditions in said basement, when the housewife may be using the basement.

I have found a simple and low cost method of heating the basement, at times when heat is wanted in said basement. This method uses the heating system used for heating the rooms of the house. To heat the basement, I provide a motor driven fan I2, which is supported by arms I3, attached to the basement ceiling joists. The fan I2 is located below the heat coil 4 and when in operation will reverse the normal ow of air through coil 4, as shown by dotted arrow lines.

As before stated, once the room areas 2 and 3, have been brought up to proper temperature, this comfort condition will hold for a long period of time (as long as from four to six hours) due to the fact that heat is stored in the structure of the building.

When the housewife has a few hours work to do in the basement, such as washing and ironing, she can turn thermostat I0 up a degree or two, thereby causing stream to flow into coil 4. The switch or thermostat I4 can be closed andfan I2 will start, which fan will pull air through said heat coil 4 and discharge said air into the basement. This willv bring the basement up to a comfortable temperature in about ten minutes time. The only extra cost in equipment for heating the basement is the fan I 2 and its wires I5, which wires run to the electric circuit (not shown) in the house.

The air discharged into the basement will pass upward through spaces 9 between the studs in the outside walls and will return to the heat coil 4 through heat shaft 5.

I have found that the above arrangement will heat the basement perfectly when heat is wanted in said basement, and that the normal heating of the house will in no way be effected. For example, let us assume an outside temperature of zero and the room thermostat I0 set to' a night temperature of say and to be automatically turned to 72 at 4 oclock in the morning. When the family get up in the morning the house is comfortable, and due to the storage of heat'in the structure of the house, the burner which supplies heat to the boiler (not shown) may not normally come on until say noon. The housewife may have a couple of hours Work to do in the basement that will take say from nine to eleven A. M. She turns the thermostat I0 up a degree to cause the burner to come on and steam will be generated which will pass to coil 4. The housewife goes to the basement and closes switch I4, thereby starting fan l2, and in a very few minutes the basement is warm. When through working in the basement the switch I4 is opened and fan I2 stops. The room thermostat l0 may be set back to normal setting and comfort conditions will be maintained in rooms 2 and 3.

I claim:

1. In a residence having a basement, with living quarters above, a heat transfer coil located in said basement area, means for supplying heat to said coil, a heat shaft for normally conducting heated warm air upward to a space above the iirst floor ceiling so as to heat said ceiling, ducts for returning said air from the space above the first floor ceiling to the basement, a fan co-operating with the heat coil so that when turned on1 said fanwili reverse the normal flow of air and will pull air down through the coil and discharge said heated air into the basement, means for turning said fan on or ofi.

2. In a residence having a basement, with living quarters above, a heat transfer coil located in said basement area, means for supplying heat to said coil, a heat shaft for normally conducting heated air upward, by gravity flow, to a space above the rst floor ceiling so as to heat the ceiling, ducts for returning said air from the space above the first oor ceiling to the basement, a motor driven fan co-operating with the heat coil so that when turned on, said fan will reverse the normal iiow of air and will cause the air to flow downward through the coil and discharge heated air into the basement, means for turning said fan on or Off.

LEWIS L. SCOTT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

